n the
dances of the Curetes in Crete and of the Dioscuri at Sparta, or as
in the dances in complete armour which were taught us Athenians by the
goddess Athene. Youths who are not yet of an age to go to war should
make religious processions armed and on horseback; and they should also
engage in military games and contests. These exercises will be equally
useful in peace and war, and will benefit both states and families.

Next follows music, to which we will once more return; and here I shall
venture to repeat my old paradox, that amusements have great influence
on laws. He who has been taught to play at the same games and with the
same playthings will be content with the same laws. There is no greater
evil in a state than the spirit of innovation. In the case of the
seasons and winds, in the management of our bodies and in the habits of
our minds, change is a dangerous thing. And in everything but what is
bad the same rule holds. We all venerate and acquiesce in the laws to
which we are accustomed; and if they have continued during long
periods of time, and there is no remembrance of their ever having been
otherwise, people are absolutely afraid to change them. Now how can we
create this quality of immobility in the laws? I say, by not allowing
innovations in the games and plays of children. The children who are
always having new plays, when grown up will be always having new laws.
Changes in mere fashions are not serious evils, but changes in our
estimate of men's characters are most serious; and rhythms and music are
representations of characters, and therefore we must avoid novelties in
dance and song. For securing permanence no better method can be imagined
than that of the Egyptians. 'What is their method?' They make a calendar
for the year, arranging on what days the festivals of the various
Gods shall be celebrated, and for each festival they consecrate an
appropriate hymn and dance. In our state a similar arrangement shall
in the first instance be framed by certain individuals, and afterwards
solemnly ratified by all the citizens. He who introduces other hymns
or dances shall be excluded by the priests and priestesses and the
guardians of the law; and if he refuses to submit, he may be prosecuted
for impiety. But we must not be too ready to speak about such great
matters. Even a young man, when he hears something unaccustomed, stands
and looks this way and that, like a traveller at a place where three
ways meet